Flood threat looms over Haryana

Chandigarh: The threat of floods has started to loom over various parts of Haryana with the south-west monsoon hitting the state just a few days back.

Incessant rainfall in the upper reaches of different parts of Haryana, Shivalik hills and Uttarakhand forced the authorities to release over 50,000 cusecs of water from Hathni Kund barrage into the Yamuna River in Haryana on Wednesday.

"We had released over 50,000 cusecs water into the Yamuna from Hathni Kund barrage. It was because of heavy flow of water into Hathni Kund from the upper reaches," an official of the Hathni Kund barrage control room said.
"It had raised the water level of Yamuna but now the situation is normal. We have not released any water today (Thursday)," he said.

"Problem arises when we release 400,000 cusecs or more water in the Yamuna continuously for three-four days. If the Yamuna overflows, its water reaches Delhi in 72 hours. Right now everything is under control," he added.

Monsoon arrived in Haryana and Punjab June 25.
In September last year, the Yamuna river remained in spate for many days and it had caused floods in various districts of Haryana.

The river saw a maximum discharge of 744,507 cusecs of water from the Hathni Kund barrage, breaking records of the past 32 years. The previous record of discharge into the Yamuna was 709,000 cusecs, recorded Sep 3, 1978.